North Connaught.

NORTH CONNAUGHT .

THE last quarterly meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge was held in Boyle , on the 10 th ult ., to dedicate the new Masonic Hall in that town . There was an unusually large attendance of Brethren from all parts of the Province , and some visitors , including representatives of Scotland and Dublin . The

ceremony was conducted with considerable eclat , and excellent music was rendered under Bro . Case Organist . In the absence of Lord Harlech Provincial Grand Master , the chair was occupied by Bev . Dr . Clark his Deputy .

Order Of The Secret Monitor.

ORDER OF THE SECRET MONITOR .

CHAMPION CONCLAVE , No . 26 . THE annual meeting was held at the Palatine Hotel , Manchester , on Tuesday , the 24 th ult ., Bro . T . H . Scholfield Supreme Buler Grand Councillor . After the minutes had been read and confirmed , Brothers W . Charlton , J . P ., and G . A . Myers P . M . P . P . G . D . C . W . L ., whose names had stood over from a former meeting , were admitted as members of the Conclave . This was succeeded by the installation of Brother Buckley Carr

P . M . Councillor as Supreme Buler for the ensuing financial year , the ceremony being in the capable hands of Brother John Marshall P . G . C . Secretary . The newly-appointed Officers were then invested , and the Conclave closed , after which the Brethren adjourned to an excellent banquet , where the usual toasts were interspersed by songs , recitations , & o ., a pleasant evening being spent .

Besides those already mentioned , we noticed the following were also present-. —Bros . Bd . T . Bedman Std ., H . T . Grundy 1 st Vis . Deacon , John E . Williams Organist , Arthur C . K . Smith D . C ., Wm . A . Boyer Guarder , F . W . Maxwell , J . A . Kirkland , and others .

The London County Council Lodge , No . 2603 , will be consecrated on the 15 th inst ., by the Earl of Lathom Pro Grand Master , at Freemasons' Hall . The Earl of Onslow Provincial Grand Master of Surrey is to be the first Master . o o o Mr . William Woodward has no intention of allowing his

scheme for the decoration of the cupola and transepts of the Cathedral by the Masons to fall through . When he brought the proposal before the Grand Lodge , it failed on a technical point ,

Mr . Woodward reminds us , " but , " he adds , " several most distinguished members of the Grand Lodge favour the idea , and it is within the range of possibility that a Grand Masonic ceremony will be held in the Cathedral , and that the Freemasons

f England will be able to point to the cupola as the result of

their liberality . " When the choir , transepts , and cupola have been decorated , he goes on to say , " may we hope for the clearing away of the present reredos—so utterly antagonistic

as it is to Wren ' s work ? It has robbed the apse of thirty feet in depth , and stands now as a monument of perverted taste and gross disregard of the masterpiece of England ' s greatest architect . "— " City Press . "

Some strange things occur now and then under Masonic auspices . One of the latest manifestations is this : The Grand Officers of a Grand Eoyal Arch Chapter in one of the Western jurisdictions were publicly installed at the same time and place with the Officers of the Grand Chapter of the Eastern Star .

This arrangement was brought about by action taken in the Grand Chapter of Eoyal Arch Masons . There is no accounting for tastes . No doubt it seemed less prosaic than the old order of procedure , and every way more attractive , to bring the masculine and feminine Masons of the two Grand Bodies

together on the occasion of a public installation , and probably no one was ungallant enough to make any suggestion regarding ancient landmarks , & c . The new departure thus taken may be in keeping with other movements of these progressive days ; but our hope is that it may stand as the exception , and not the rule . — " Freemason ' s Eepository . "

A few weeks ago I chronicled the formation of a Masonic Lodge in connection with the London County Council , and now I hear that a like movement is on foot amongst the members of the London School Board . Brotherly love is the essence of Masonry , and , therefore , the Lodges should prove an effectual

means of toning down the differences that at present divide the two parties on each body . With regard to the School Board , religious controversies can scarcely arise when the members are united in an organisation that places religion in the very

forefront of its tenets , and allows no sectarian questions to disturb the harmony existing . Education should , under such circumstances , be given a far more prominent place in the deliberations of the Board than has unfortunately been the case of late . — " City Press . "

Silence.

SILENCE .

THAT Excellent Key , a Freemason's tongue , which should speak well of a Brother absent or present ; and when that cannot be done with honour and propriety , let us adopt that excellent virtue of the Craft , which is Silence . This is about the most important of all the ancient charges , and a Brother who can look back upon his Masonic career and say that he has kept to this charge can also say with pride that ho has almost , if not quite ,

attained the summit of Freemasonry . But how many of us can say this with a clear conscience . Many of us strive most earnestly to attain this perfection , but human nature is weak and few succeed , and yet when we consider part of our solemn O . B . of the third degree " and finally that I will maintain a Master Mason ' s honour , and carefully preserve it as my own . I will not injure him myself , or knowingly cause or suffer it to be done by others if in my power to prevent it , but on the contrary will boldly repel the slanderer of his good name , & c , " all must admit that this is one of the most

important of our duties as Masons . Many Brethren , and some of them the most honoured and respected among us , as men and Masons , fail in this great and important duty , and during our Masonic career most of us have no doubt heard expressions of ill-will against an absent Brother , which none have attempted to stop or to rebuke , much less to boldly repel . It may not be a slander on his good name , it may be the truth , and the absent Brother unfortunately may not have a good name to lose , but all the same our duty is plain to all , to adopt that most excellent virtue of the Craft , Silence .

To speak ill of a Brother Mason , no matter if he has forfeited our esteem , is unmasonic , and not only a violation of our obligation , but opposed to all the teachings of Masonry . Let us all , therefore , strive most earnestly to live up to the doctrine of Universal Charity , the greatest of all Masonic virtues . Charity in its most ample sense , that is universal kindliness , goodwill , and love to all mankind , especially our Brethren in Freemasonry . It is

hard to live up to this standard , private piques and quarrels will obtrude themselves , and it is only human nature that one Brother should offend another at times . Still our solemn duty as Masons is quite plain , and it is unmasonic to speak anything but good of an absent Brother , and if this good cannot with honour and propriety be spokon , let us in the words of the ancient charge adopt that excellent Masonic virtue—Silence . —Past Master , in " Indian Masonic Review . "

AT meetings of what are called the "Higher degrees " it is no uncommon thing to have the work practically slurred over under the fiction that it will " be better done next time . " This is not as it should be . What is worth

doing is worth doing well , and it is no credit to a body nor to its members that all the knowledge they possess is that they are entitled to wear the regalia as members , though to prove themselves such would in many cases be an absolute impossibility . — " Mallet , " in " Glasgow Evening News . "

o o o It is stated that £ 970 is the total balance of the Mother Kilwinning Bazaar in aid of the building fund of the new premises of the Lodge .

Ad00503

GAIETY RESTAURANT , STZR-iLHSTD . LUNCHEONS ( HOT and COLD)—At Popular Prices , in BUFFET and EESTATJEANT ( on 1 st floor ) . Also Chops , Steaks , Joints , Entrees , & c , in the GEILL EOOM . AFTERNOON TEAConsisting of Tea or Coffee , Cut Bread and Butter , Jam , Cake , Pastry , ad lib , at 1 / - per head ; served from 4 till 6 in EESTATJEANT ( 1 st floor ) . DINNERS IN RESTAURANTFrom 5-30 till 9 at Fixed Prices ( 3 / 6 and 5 / - ) and a la Carte . In this room the Viennese Band performs from 6 till 8 . Smoking after 7-45 . AMERICAN BAR . THE GRILL ROOM is open till 12-30 . PRIVATE DIKING ROOMS POR LARGE AUD SMALL PARTIES . SPIEBS AND POND , Ltd ., Proprietors .